The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2021 - Issue 29

bitefilmreview Fast-forward to day 474; the sequel picks up just after the events of the first film. We see the burning barn in the back- ground while the Abbott family must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. The survivors from Part I - Evelyn, her daughter Regan, son Marcus and baby Abbott, who is carried around in a post-apocalypse-proofed carrycot — decide to leave home on a quest to find civilisation. Continuing their journey be- yond the sand path, they pass the gravesite of Beau who died in the first movie. While running from another alien attack, they run into an old friend. Krasinksi re-introduced Emmet (Cillian Murphy), an old neighbour from the pre-invasion days, and a family friend from the baseball game. Unfortunately, his whole life and world views have shifted drastically since the run-ins with the creatures that killed his entire family. This loss has left him with very little hope and unwilling to help others, not even the Abbots. He gives Evelyn and her family an ultimatum and in- structs them to leave the abandoned warehouse he lords over by the next day. Whilst he is fuelled with bitterness and hatred and refuses to risk his life, in the beginning, Emmet is faced with more di- lemmas as the movie unravels. Especially when Regan runs away in pursuit of finding the rest of the civilisation, and Eve- lyn appeals to him to bring her back. His intriguing selfishness is overthrown when he learns to follow the echo of Lee's foot- steps and develops a father-daughter-like relationship with Regan. Regan becomes a heroine in her own right, with a perfor- mance elevating to a full-on hero mode. To believe a young actress could create such a powerful performance with hard- ly any dialogue is praiseworthy and deserves a big round of applause. Always carrying her cochlear implant in one hand, she looks to weaponise it further after its feedback gave the monsters debilitating headaches at the end of the first movie and also bravely carries a shotgun in the other (if this isn't girl power, I do not know what it is then). Her search for more people sends the rest of the family on a course for a signal that her father, Lee Abbot, unsuccessfully tried to find. The young lady’s courage sets the tone for the se- quel as she is determined to follow in her dad's footsteps and find a way to destroy the aliens by solving the mysteries of the radio waves. I guess we can all agree that this is a definition of a daddy's girl at its best. Part II, once again, brings out the fierceness and lioness-like action mode in Emily Blunt, who is determined to protect her little cubs at any cost. Krasinski dug into the mother’s archetype through Evelyn’s character and showcases true, selfless love for the family. Un- doubtedly, the talented actress embodies the tension, stress, terror, and above all, love, with every being of her soul. It would be hard not to root for her since she has already lost a husband and a son. We can sense her desperation to protect and attack those not willing to help her family survive, even if it means confronting the aliens themselves, who this time round are bigger, faster, louder, and more typical for the hor- ror blockbuster genre. Marcus is the middle child and opposite to his older sister. A silent observer, often afraid and traumatised by monsters the most, he is trying to keep everyone safe by having a ‘no- risk’ attitude in both sequels. Throughout the story, he is seen standing by or holding onto his parent(s) or sister to feel comfortable. Overcoming his fear is Marcus' main objective, leading him to face the aliens at the end of the film to protect his mother and younger sibling. Once again, Noah Jupe suc- cessfully brought Marcus's character to life, and just like Sim- monds, he is one of the greatest young actors in the industry. Krasinski created moments of cross-cutting three lines of ac- tion to generate tension when the film heroes fight for their lives. Blunt and Murphy convey volumes with just their eyes when faced with terror and uncertainty of their desti- ny. The moments in which humans and monsters clash are a nerve-rattling and visceral challenge of complete silence and succeed at getting you to think of nothing else in the story but the characters on screen. One of Krasinski's best visual touch- es involves two scenes that trap the viewer into the point-of- view of being in a fast car, like at the beginning when Evelyn is trying to speed-reverse from a hijacked bus. These thrilling sequences give the film plenty of adrenaline at the beginning and end and play like a nod from the talented director. The filmmaker leads with intention, and he’s confident with